GASLAND (2010) directed by Josh Fox
The main thing about GASLAND is that it is extremely important, scary material, and if previously uninformed on it, eyeopening stuff. The director, narrator, “star” of the film is a likable guy (Josh Fox) and you can see that the doc is coming from a pure and personal place. He is genuinely worried about the place he calls home and wants to get the info out because no one else is. The film is very thorough in explaining exactly what is going on. Some may deem it a negative, but I think the neverending wave of personal stories of those effected and their struggles with those responsible are important and effective in demonstrating that this isn’t just a few incidents and it makes things more real/personal to put faces to the statistics. It screams THIS SHIT IS HAPPENING and SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE! There are two striking visuals that I can’t get out of my head. One is the great poster and DVD cover of Fox playing the Banjo with a gas mask on, near one of the drilling areas where the chemical smog is extremely dangerous. The other being the visual of those people actually able to light their so-called “safe” tap water on fire, terrifying. Even though he is a nobody, Fox does what he can to grill some of the people responsible for the drilling or those capable of stopping it. The uneasiness they show and the lack of substantial answers they give tell you an awful lot. The Congressional hearing is as telling as anything. These guy are truly embarassing. It is interesting to see their faces when asked to drink a glass of the water they deem “safe for consumption”. The discussions of how the drilling came about, the laws changed, the contracts signed etc all leading back to Bush and Cheney is maddening, but not the least bit surprising.
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